[Kartbuilding] Fwd: go kart question

[Stephen Burke]

Hi Alexei,

The castor and camber angles are very difficult to get your head
around, let alone manufacture. The castor and camber angles are all to
do with the King Pin, i.e. the attachment of the front stub axles to
the chassis.
Go to the following two pages on my website:
<"http://www.skynet.ie/~steviewdr/racingkart/Old_Racing_Kart/kingpins.htm">
<"http://www.skynet.ie/~steviewdr/Freeplans/faxle.htm">

Best of Luck
-steve



On Tue, 04 Jan 2005 17:53:00 +0000, wrote:
> thanks for the relpy, it looks like the solid axle is the best way to go,
> but could you tell me your castor and camber angles
>
> Thanks, Alexei
>
> >Hi,
> >The problem with the differential is an age old problem.
> >If both rear wheels are welded/ fixed to an axle, what happens going
> >round a corner?, well the outside wheel must go faster than the inside
> >wheel.
> >
> >The way I have worked it:
> >I have both rear wheels welded/ fixed to my rear axle.
> >The chassis, combined with castor and camber angles, solve the
> >steering and rear wheel issue.
> >Because the camber angle, tries to keep both front wheels on the
> >ground, the chassis flexes and twists a small amount. Due to this, the
> >inside rear wheel slightly lifts up, allowing it to slip when going
> >round corners. This is why donuts etc. are easily done on karts with
> >solid rear axles.
> >So if you get the steering geometry correct, the kart will take
> >corners quite well and fast.
> >
> >Other things and solutions I tried:
> >I welded one wheel to the rear axle, and I left one spinning freely,
> >i.e. on bearings. What this gave me was an unstable kart at high
> >speeds. Steering was too abrupt, and one slight turn of the steering
> >wheel put the kart taking a corner too abruptly.
> >
> >I used a differential off a push-lawnmower, as with that r/c kart on
> >the page you forwarded me. It worked quite well for going round
> >corners and was smooth. The problem was, I had to add in this
> >differential by halving my rear axle and putting the differential in
> >the middle. This weakened the entire rear axle, and the axle diameter
> >of the differential was 15mm. What eventually happened, was that I
> >tore all the gear teeth inside the differential. I was meant for
> >pushing a lawnmower, not a kart with an adult on it!
> >So, if you are going the differential option, get a large diff, off a
> >car or tractor lawnmower.
> >
> >Best of Luck
> >-steve
> >
> >
> >On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 02:31:32 +0000, wrote:
> > > Well i looked through your site which is very good and has very good
> > > information. but i have one question, are both of the rear wheels
> >connected
> > > to the axel and they're both driving. or is only one of the wheels
> >powered.
> > > if they are both drive wheels then how is the steering, because it will
> >be
> > > reduced. and what if a differential from a riding mower was used. are
> >there
> > > any problems with this? here is a site which shows the diff.
> > > http://fp.enter.net/~rockcrawl/buggy.html
> > >